I am keeping our year text, the Story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30–37), front and center by sharing stories from people at Stone Hill, stories that encourage us to “go and do” like the Samaritan. The following account is from Jean Telljohann, and it reminds us that you don’t need to be a Superhero to be a Good Samaritan!

These may seem like trivial examples, but I was on the receiving end of the kindness so they mattered to me. I was returning home to New York one frigid night recently and decided to park on our block instead of returning the car to our garage a few blocks away. There had been a snowstorm the day before, so as I tried to back into a spot, my wheels spun on the ice, and I was stuck. A young woman saw me and guided me to turn my wheels to and fro. Still no luck! She disappeared, and I assumed that she had gone on her way. Instead, she returned with a shovel she had borrowed so that she could chop away at the ice behind my wheels and shovel snow out of the way! I find that a kindness like this has a ripple effect; I feel more inclined to help when the situation is reversed.

Here is another example. I was standing in the rain trying to hail a cab. Suddenly, one pulled up and deposited its passenger right in front of me so I could climb in the vacant cab. What luck, right? No, not luck: once I got in, the driver told me that the earlier passenger had spotted me and asked to get out several blocks before his destination so that I could get out of the rain.

And here is my favorite: I was rushing back to feed an expired parking meter and spotted a policeman walking up the block checking the meters. Opening my wallet, I saw that I had no coins at all. The policeman handed me a quarter instead of a ticket!